The universal appeal of fresh fruits is readily confirmed by the large consumer demand that exists for such products. The most popular fruits are those which can be prepared for consumption with little effort on the part of the consumer. The popularity of pineapples in the fresh fruit market has been somewhat limited, therefore, due to the difficulties consumers have in removing the thick, hard shells from pineapples and separating the edible flesh from the cores of the pineapples.
Devices for peeling and/or coring pineapples and intended for use by the consumer have been described in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,546,545, 3,540,503 and 4,490,912 describe hand-held devices for peeling and coring pineapples. Somewhat more elaborate apparatus for performing this task is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,441,413 and 4,497,245 as well as U.K. Pat. No. 764,717. The devices disclosed in these patents, however, are not entirely satisfactory for various reasons relating to operational aspects thereof. The operational aspects are particularly important because such devices are generally employed by inexperienced users.
Many of the shortcomings of prior art devices are overcome by the pineapple peeling and coring device disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 742,455 filed June 7, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,263. That device employs a tubular cutter provided with a toothed cutting edge that is pressed into a pineapple while it is supported on a cutting pad. Movement of the tubular cutter into the pineapple is accomplished by the operator grasping a pair of handles mounted on the wall of the tubular cutter and applying sufficient force in the direction of the cutting pad. The fact that the device is intended for use by a relatively large number of operators has proven to be a drawback, however, in that some operators lack the physical strength to apply the required force to the tubular cutter.